This past weekend, I decided to mix the old with the new in a number of ways. Let’s face it: we all have music from the 70’s that we love, and we all have some current music that finds its way onto our IPrecious. Right? So this weekend I made a playlist that mixed old rock with new stuff as the musical score for my workouts. Why? Because I was going to mix the new exercises I’ve been doing with some old school routines, resulting in a weekend of calorie-rockin’ workouts.
On Saturday, I did a BRICK workout, which begins with cycling and then a quick transition to a run. For me, that’s one of the newer workouts on my list, as I am a newbie to triathlons (plus, BRICK workouts are tough – and tough workouts take effort – and sweating results in a bad hair day for this dude). The combination jacks up your metabolism and challenges you as an athlete. I went home after finishing my run feeling rather awesome.
Sunday, it was time to roll old school with my workout. I started by hitting the gym at 7am and I immediately hit the pool. I think everyone has a “natural environment”, and mine is the water. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved swimming. I could spend all day in Long Island Sound or the pool at the New York Athletic Club, and return home tired yet happy. So at 7am, I plopped into the pool at the gym and cranked out some laps. After my laps were done, I dried off and headed to….the rowing machine.
The ergometer – or “erg”, as rowers call it – is a fantastic way of burning calories and having fun. When I was in college, I was a member of the Iona College Crew Team…and we spent a TON of hours on the ergs, making our legs and lungs burn. The hard work paid off – our team was awesome. So I decided to test myself with a 2500 meter race. OK – so I’m not as fast as I was over 20 years ago, but the exercise brought back wonderful memories….and from now on I’m scheduling an erg test for myself weekly. A small nugget to look forward to in weeks to come.
While Lord knows I’m no coach, I can make this recommendation: if you want to kick-start your workout routine and you’re looking for something new and interesting to throw into the mix….go old school.
